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Ive read the same threads. There were a lot of draft guys on this board that didnt want him in the 1st round. Many were calling for Weeden or Kuechly. Thos same people were also ready to storm Dolphins' headquarters after we passed on Matt Flynn.

I'm willing to fess up that I didn't want Tannehill at 7 (and certainly didn't want Flynn!). I warmed up to him by draft day such that I wasn't upset when we took him, but I would have preferred Kuechly with our first pick. Doesn't matter anymore - we have a QB who we're tied to for at least 3-4 years, so better hope he's the one.

Wonderful -- he wasn't looking for playmakers the other five drafts. The issue here is that Ireland wouldn't know a playmaker if he saw one. After all, he drafted Egnew thinking he was a playmaker.

Originally Posted by z926538

Wonderful -- he wasn't looking for playmakers the other five drafts. The issue here is that Ireland wouldn't know a playmaker if he saw one. After all, he drafted Egnew thinking he was a playmaker.

I told everyone when we drafted Egnew that he shows NOTHING, he produced nothing but a 4 yard slant or bubble screen in college so his numbers looked good and everyoen said hes a playmaker and stretch the field TE. As we saw last year, the guy was literally what he was in college but worse.

He also said he was going to addrss team speed 3 years ago and after FA, after day 1 of draft, day 2 of draft, he drafted Gates in the 4th and during his PC came out and said, we knew this team needed speed, the fans wanted speed, we have addressed that today with Gates. WE expect great things from him from a speed standpoint.

He addressed it with 1 player that was raw and useless in a late round pick. That my frends, is IRELAND. I mean sorry, I think Parcells or maybe his boss from the days of being a ball boy made the pick, no way Ireland woudl do such a thing according to our fans.

I told everyone when we drafted Egnew that he shows NOTHING, he produced nothing but a 4 yard slant or bubble screen in college so his numbers looked good and everyoen said hes a playmaker and stretch the field TE. As we saw last year, the guy was literally what he was in college but worse.

He also said he was going to addrss team speed 3 years ago and after FA, after day 1 of draft, day 2 of draft, he drafted Gates in the 4th and during his PC came out and said, we knew this team needed speed, the fans wanted speed, we have addressed that today with Gates. WE expect great things from him from a speed standpoint.

He addressed it with 1 player that was raw and useless in a late round pick. That my frends, is IRELAND. I mean sorry, I think Parcells or maybe his boss from the days of being a ball boy made the pick, no way Ireland woudl do such a thing according to our fans.

Has Ireland learned from his mistakes? Well, there is a way to tell, just ask him how he see's the draft and compare it to previous years. Lets test it:

Ireland, on what he’s looking for in the draft: “I’m a big firm believer of prototypical sized players. … I like big corners. Offensively, maybe looking for a little different offensive line type, maybe a little bit more athletic.”

It is important that we add playmakers," Ireland said Tuesday, via the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "Ryan is one-eleventh of the offense. We've got to get some other players that can help him.
"We've got to get him help," he went on. "Maybe it's (O-line) help. We've got to score TDs. That's what we didn't do enough of."

People think its easy to change a mind set, to change a habit, and a way someone was TAUGHT to be. Since he was a ball boy he was around people and taught by people that big, strong, and disciplined players are key. You think that will cahgne after 25 years? ESPECIALLY what your brain and more importantly your EYES are used to seeing.

People think its easy to change a mind set, to change a habit, and a way someone was TAUGHT to be. Since he was a ball boy he was around people and taught by people that big, strong, and disciplined players are key. You think that will cahgne after 25 years? ESPECIALLY what your brain and more importantly your EYES are used to seeing.

Yea...My faith in him learning from his mistakes is pretty much nonexistant..

Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel Columnist, 7:25 PM EST, February 4, 2013There's only one question for Dolphins General Manager Jeff Ireland on this first day of the NFL off-season, and it's not why he still has this chance, what he'll do with $48 million and five high draft picks to spend or whether the next few months will define his football reputation, once and for all.
It's simply this: What has he learned these last five years?

They've been pockmarked by draft mistakes, free-agent issues and problems that have translated into four straight losing seasons. Few general managers survive such a run. Ireland has.

So what lessons are learned as another Super Bowl with winning models passes by? Let's hope:

1.Don't trade the 12th overall pick. Come on, we're not going to have this discussion again this off-season, are we? Ireland traded out of the 12th pick in 2010. He got Jared Odrick (28th overall) and Koa Misi (40th) for that pick. They're average starters.

But look what opportunity was missed. With the 14th pick, Seattle took safety Earl Thomas, an All-Pro the past two years. With the 15th pick, the New York Giants took pass-rusher Jason Paul-Pierre, who helped them to a Super Bowl title.

When you trade down from a high spot, you lessen the odds for greatness. And great players are what the Dolphins lack. Forty-one percent of this year's Pro Bowl selections (32 of the 78 every-down selections) were picked among the top 15. So trade down from their 12th pick? Let's hope not.

2. With any Top 15 pick, choose someone who can score touchdowns through the air, rush the quarterback or make game-changing plays on defense. Defense and running games aren't winning titles anymore. That game's gone. Baltimore scored 12 post-season touchdowns. Ten were passes. Six were at least 20 yards. Baltimore and San Francisco are built and coached as traditionally as any contending team, too. Both teams scored in the 30s in the Super Bowl. San Francisco had nearly double the rushing yards (182-93) as Baltimore.

Until the last draft, the Dolphins' blueprint was backward. Take Ireland's 2011 draft. His first two picks were old school: Mike Pouncey, a great center, and running back Daniel Thomas, whom he used a third-round pick to trade up for. Look what San Francisco and Baltimore did with those picks. San Francisco took pass-rushing defensive end Aldon Smith and quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Baltimore took cornerback Jimmy Smith and receiver Torrey Smith. They used their most valuable picks to win the way the game's played today.

3. Get a red-zone target. Who did Ryan Tannehill have to throw to in the red zone? Baltimore beat New England in the AFC Championship because it held Tom Brady to one touchdown in five possessions inside the 25. Notably, 6-7 tight end Rob Gronkowski was out injured.
Baltimore beat San Francisco because 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick didn't have a completion in five attempts inside the red zone. Again, defending the pass is a way to win. And, again, you need a proven red-zone target.

4. Choose free agents judiciously for fit and impact. For Irelands' first three years, the Dolphins spent wildly. And dumbly. Who can forget giving center Jake Grove a guaranteed $14 million? Or getting exactly what they feared and overpaid for in the trade for Brandon Marshall? Ireland now has the salary cap under control. His last two off-seasons of small, free-agent activity suggest his ideas differ from Bill Parcells, who had final say those first three years. He'll no doubt buy a free-agent receiver: Greg Jennings, Mike Wallace or Dwayne Bowe. That's necessary.

Baltimore and San Francisco again showed the winning model is to build through the draft with significant add-ons. Baltimore signed receiver Jacoby Jones, for instance, for two years and $7 million. He scored two Super Bowl touchdowns.

5. Speed wins. Again, the Parcells Way was big and strong. Ireland has tried, by increments, to change that the last two drafts. But the reason the Dolphins have trouble causing turnovers is end Cameron Wake and safety Reshad Jones are the only players with speed on the defense.
Baltimore general manager Ozzie Newsome's No. 1 tangible for picking players? "Speed,'' he said in Super Bowl week.

I disagree with the notion that Wake and Jones are the only two with speed on the defense. I don't know where you've derived that from as Clemons is a 4.3 guy, Smith is fast, Carroll is also a 4.3 guy. Dansby and Misi are plenty fast at LB and so is Kaddu. Solia and Starks are fast for interior lineman and so is Odrick. This we have no speed on Defense is laughable. I do agree with the majority of your post's topic of not trading back. And our WR most definitely lack speed.

Ireland apparently doesn't seem to have trouble scouting the talent as far as his draft boards go. he just sucks at actually reeling them in. He hopes every elite playmaker just falls to him. If he thinks a player is legit then go get him. Waiting around won't get you anywhere. lol when he does go after a player it's a scrub like Daniel Thomas. No need to trade up for him.

I disagree with the notion that Wake and Jones are the only two with speed on the defense. I don't know where you've derived that from as Clemons is a 4.3 guy, Smith is fast, Carroll is also a 4.3 guy. Dansby and Misi are plenty fast at LB and so is Kaddu. Solia and Starks are fast for interior lineman and so is Odrick. This we have no speed on Defense is laughable. I do agree with the majority of your post's topic of not trading back. And our WR most definitely lack speed.

Clemons is a 4.3 guy doesn't mean hes fast during the game to be honest.

There is numerous times on film that Jones chases down the player on a breakaway while Clemons was the closer man and ends up being last in teh race between Jones and the player wiht the ball. That isn't 4.3 speed cuz Jones was a 4.5 speed guy coming out.

Welker has 4.99999 speed and he makes Clemons 4.3 speed look like hes running a 7 second 40.

If we want to talk about speed like Smith Carrol Misi etc put into account their speed is nothing without a brain or game. Just because they have speed doens't mean they are in teh right place at the right time. People take things so black and white with no room for gray.

Jones looks fast not becuase of his 4.5 speed but his instincts, being a playmaker and at the right place at the right time numerous times. Instincts make your 4.5 speed look 4.3 lack of instincts like Clemons makes your 4.3 speed look 4.7.

If you guys watched Miami 13 years ago you would see how FAST ZT played. Probably the slowest man I have seen but his instincts made him Willis Fast. That Miami Defense was fast not only becasue of speed but because they ALL had tremendous top notch instincts. Surtain, Madison, JT, ZT, Bowens, even Armstrong, Marion, they all had elite level instincts and anticipation.